Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. -
After a pair of thrilling come-from-behind games last weekend, MSU failed to produce the same third-period magic on Friday, falling to Lake Superior State, 3-2, in Sault Ste. Marie on Friday night. Tanner Sorenson and Anthony Hayes had the scores for the Spartans, who fall to 1-3-1 on the season. Will Yanakeff made 26 saves for MSU.

"We preached all week about keeping things simple, but we failed to do that and it's why we gave up some of the goals we did today," said head coach Tom Anastos. "That is no disrespect to Lake Superior whatsoever, but all the goals we gave up were results of plays we shouldn't have made. Tonight, we had chances, and we gave goals away. We have to bear down, keep things simple, and execute."

It looked like a disappointing start quite early for the Spartans, as the Lakers looked like they had a goal just 32 seconds after the puck dropped. Domenic Monardo's wrister from the left half-wall made its way through traffic and beat a screened Will Yanakeff; however, the goal was waved off after a quick review.

The Spartans had a couple nice chances midway through that first frame - first, it was freshman Matt DeBlouw carrying the puck to the net, putting it through the lead defender's legs, getting around him, and getting off a shot from the bottom of the left circle; his effort, however, was saved by Kapalka. Minutes later on a scrum in front of the net, Greg Wolfe got his stick on a loose puck in front, but his offering bounced off the left crossbar.

The Lakers broke through at 6:15 of the second period, while skating on the power play. Ben Power, stationed at the top of the left circle, took a pass from Dan Radke and put a shot on net. Zach Sternberg tipped it, and the tip beat Yanakeff high.

Nick McPartland gave the home team a 2-0 lead midway through the period. McPartland received the pass from Kevin Czuczman and dumped it in on net from the blue line. Yanakeff made the pad save, but the loose puck trickled through his five-hole and into the back of the net.

MSU cut back into the lead with a power-play goal by Tanner Sorenson at 16:48. The Spartans were pressuring deep in the zone, but goalie Kevin Kapalka came up with big point-blank saves before Sorenson, moving left-to-right across the crease, managed to backhand the puck past the goalie for his second goal of the season. Kapalka left the game with an injury right after the Spartan goal, and was replaced by junior Kevin Murdock.

The home team was granted a power play for the final 1:08 of the period, with Jake Chelios in the box on a high sticking call. With two-tenths of a second remaining in the period, Chris Ciotti's shot ended up in the back of the net - the goal was reviewed closely to verify that it had indeed crossed the line entirely before the period expired - and was upheld on review. That gave the Lakers a 3-1 lead entering the final period.

The Spartans got the lone score in the final frame. Chris Forfar fed RJ Boyd out at the left point, and his shot was saved by Kevin Murdock. It bounced around in front of the crease, and an opportunistic Anthony Hayes pounced on it at the bottom of the left circle, and roofed his first goal of the season into the upper left corner.

MSU pressed in the late minutes of the period for an equalizer, but could not manufacture the game-tying score before the final buzzer.

NOTES: MSU failed to score in the first period for the fifth straight game ... For the first time this season, the Spartans did not trail at the first intermission ... Tanner Sorenson's second-period tally was MSU's first goal not scored in the third period this year ...